How Can I Transition Leadership and Ownership of My Business and Avoid Creating Family Conflict and Disharmony?
We know from experience that family business owners often delay thinking about succession for fear of creating conflict and disharmony in their families.
Over the years, your spouse, your siblings, your children, or your nieces and nephews, may have become key members of the management team … and each may have an opinion about who should be in charge when it’s time for you to retire, or what their share of ownership should be.
That’s why avoiding conflict and preserving Family Harmony is a key component of our succession planning process for family business owners.
We start the process by hosting a Family Meeting that includes all of the business stakeholders. We use this meeting to table and discuss intentions, concerns, and challenges that are relevant to your current situation and your vision for the future. We act as a neutral mediator during this process, so that you can avoid potentially uncomfortable situations.
From that Family Meeting, we determine the courses of action that will best address the concerns and challenges that were discovered. We act as quarterback with any other professional advisors that may need to be involved, such as your lawyer, accountant, or a formal mediator.
Then we involve all of your family members in the ongoing planning process moving forward by providing them with our family office services – investments, risk management/insurance, cash flow, and estate planning for all family members (not just you), all included for a single fee. In this way we can ensure that everyone’s future interests are being holistically managed toward the desired outcome.